Antonio Valencia out for the season

15/09/2010

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Antonio Valencia is likely to miss the rest of the season after breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle during Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Rangers in the Champions League.

The Ecuadorian winger caught his studs in the turf during an run-of-the-mill incident with Kirk Broadfoot, which left his foot hanging at the wrong angle. Unsurprisingly the challenge was not replayed on TV.

‘He's gone straight to hospital and he will be operated on in the morning,’ said the United boss. ‘It's a dislocation and a fracture and he's going to be out for a long time. It's a really bad blow for the boy. It's similar to the injury Alan Smith got.

‘You're talking about the rest of the season. It was a really innocuous challenge and you wouldn't have expected anything but as soon as we saw their player waving, we knew it was a bad one.’

Elsewhere in the Champions League, Barcelona bounced back from their defeat at the weekend with a hammering of Panathinaikos, while FC Twente held European champions Inter to a 2-2 draw in the Netherlands.